American Rescue Plan Act: Medicaid HCBS Direct Care Workforce Reform and Analysis
Expanding, enhancing, and strengthening the direct care workforce
Wisconsin’s direct caregiving workforce is the backbone of home and community-based services. However, the industry is in crisis. Today, one in four direct caregiver positions is vacant. We are projected to need an additional 20,000 home care workers by 2024.
To better recruit, support, and retain these vital workers, our approach to using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds includes:
- Conducting workforce surveys. Data will help assess turnover, tenure, wages, benefits, and other factors.
- Expanding career opportunities. A statewide professional certification system for direct care workers will be created to improve competency and career advancement. Workers can gain portable skills that apply from one employer to another without retraining, with a curriculum developed by our academic partner, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Visit WisCaregiverCDCP.com to learn more.
- Designing a statewide workforce platform, WisCaregiver Connections. This one-stop portal, will feature job postings, candidate profiles, credentialing details, training opportunities, a resource library, and more. It will include a function to auto-match employers with job seekers. Qualified HCBS agencies and providers (see below) can register for this free platform.
This work will benefit agencies and workers who support these programs:
- Children’s Long-Term Support Program
- Family Care
- Family Care Partnership
- IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct)
- Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
- Fee-for-service (FFS) providers who serve HCBS participants.
Goals include:
- Better training and education for caregivers
- A pathway for career advancement
- More direct care workers
- Improved quality and sustainability
In the News
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These free Wisconsin programs will pay your way to a job in healthcare I Milwaukee Journal Sentinel I September 25, 2023
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DHS offering free online program aimed at combating state’s caregiver shortage I Merrill Foto News I September 20, 2023
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Free online program seeks to train 10,000 Wisconsin caregivers I WPR I September 8, 2023
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Free caregiver certification program offered in DHS, UWGB partnership I WBAY-TV I August 30,2023
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New Home-Based Care Worker Recruitment Program Includes Incentives, Plans For Nationwide Expansion | Home Health Care News | August 22, 2023
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DHS offering free online program aimed at combating state’s caregiver shortage | Tomahawk Leader | August 9, 2023
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DHS Announces Free Online Program to Train 10,000 Caregivers Urban Milwaukee | Urban Milwaukee | August 9, 2023
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Wisconsin launches direct care training program for 10,000 new workers | The Center Square | August 9, 2023
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Wisconsin DHS looks to train 10,000 caregivers with new free online course | Channel 3000 | August 8, 2023
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Free online DHS program will train 10,000 caregivers in Wisconsin | Spectrum News 1 | August 8, 2023
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Wisconsin DHS announces free training program for caregiver | NBC 15 | August 8, 2023
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Wisconsin Department of Health Services announces free online program to train caregivers | CBS 58 | August 8, 2023
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UW-Green Bay, DHS aim to certify 10K new workers to provide home health care in Wisconsin | WPR | August 8, 2023
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Free program offers streamlined path to direct care professional certification | McKnights Senior Care& | August 7, 2023
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UW-Green Bay and Wisconsin DHS team up to offer free certified caregiver program | nbc26.com | August 2, 2023
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As worker shortages loom, some states move to train paid caregivers | Washington Post | July 28, 2023
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Badger State aims to recruit 10,000 home care workers with online training program | McKnights Home Care | April 13, 2023
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Will Wisconsin’s Direct Care Program Change the Field? | PHI | February 27, 2023